Monster Company Tycoon Chapter 13

Chapter 14

 

Since the man had abruptly introduced himself, I had no choice but to introduce myself as well.

“Ah, yes, hello… I’m Choi.”

“I’m Theon! My big brother’s awesome, isn’t he?!”

“Choi. That’s a unique name.”

Even though I’d only told him my name, I could feel the man’s guard lowering a little.

“What are you talking about? You’re not Choi, you’re–”

Just then, Brownie suddenly came flying over with a whoosh and interrupted me.

I hurriedly tried to cover her mouth, but Brownie nimbly dodged my hand and zipped around. Then, as though she intended to protect me from the two men, she positioned herself in front of me.

“A fairy?”

“That’s right! I am the great Earth Fairy! You lowly humans, bow your heads at my feet and–!”

Brownie had been shouting triumphantly, but suddenly she slipped right into my hair and hid there.

“What’s wrong?”

I whispered the question, and Brownie muttered in a trembling voice,

“I can sense a frightening aura…”

Now that she mentioned it, she was right. A sharp, chilling aura had briefly emanated from Ragner. But the moment our eyes met, that aura quickly dissipated as though it had scattered into thin air.

What was that just now?

“A-anyway! This dungeon is far too low-level for you! It’s unfair for the strong to bully the weak, isn’t it?”

“Monsters aren’t weaklings who deserve special consideration.”

“Th-that’s true, but! Think about it! If you sweep through a weak dungeon like this… Right!”

I hurriedly pointed toward his younger brother and continued.

“Where are promising young adventurers like Theon supposed to train? You’re trampling on the potential of outstanding adventurers who might emerge in the future!”

Even I knew what I was saying was complete and utter nonsense. Still, I had to stop this man from challenging the dungeon somehow.

“Dungeons are lairs full of dangerous monsters.”

Ragner didn’t look like he had any intention of backing down.

He bent forward slightly to bring his eyes level with mine, then spoke in a calm, measured voice.

“If monsters were to break out of a dungeon and attack a residential area, there would be countless casualties.”

“That’s right! Dungeons are bad. If you don’t deal with them in time, there’ll be trouble! And they took my wooden sword, too!”

I flinched. I was the one who’d taken that wooden sword, so my conscience pricked me.

This kid… He could just throw away that old, worn-out sword and buy a new one. Why was he so determined to get it back…?

If his only goal was to retrieve his wooden sword, I’d happily give it back and be done with this.

“That only applies to things like instant dungeons…! The dungeons operated by the Demon Kings don’t do such underhanded, self-defeating things.”

Brownie, still hiding in my hair, muttered in a voice so quiet that only I could hear her.

“H-he says that won’t happen. No, it won’t!”

I raised my voice toward Ragner again.

“How can you be so sure of that?”

“Because I’ll stop it! This dungeon will never attack a residential area! This dungeon is… um… basically a facility that manages monsters to keep them from going outside!”

“You’ll stop them…?”

Ragner looked me up and down with a puzzled expression.

“You don’t look like you have any combat power at all.”

What should I do? Wasn’t there a good way out of this? The only thing I could do was…

I took a deep breath before opening my mouth.

“I… have a contract with the owner of this dungeon!”

In the end, I decided to tell him a half-truth, embellishing my circumstances just enough to make them sound plausible.

It would be a disaster if he took the holy relic from me. I had a responsibility to protect my dungeon, no matter what. I was its manager, after all!

“I made this contract to protect this world! My job is to manage this dungeon safely so that the monsters don’t escape outside!”

At that moment, Brownie interrupted again in a tiny voice.

“That’s more or less true. You do have to work hard to protect the world, after all.”

…What was that supposed to mean?

I was curious, but this wasn’t the time to ask questions, so I pushed the thought to the back of my mind for now.

“You made a contract…”

Ragner looked at me with interest.

“Then… are you saying you made a contract with a Demon King? Do you realize that what you’ve just said is tantamount to openly declaring yourself a heretic?”

“…A heretic? What’s that?”

“Have you not abandoned Reta, the Holy God who protects this land and stands in opposition to the God of Demons, only to join hands with a Demon King who is practically your enemy? That is precisely what makes you a heretic.”

A heretic. A cultist.

“Gasp…!”

“Monsters aren’t allowed to form communities outside dungeons. The temples strictly forbid it.”

Brownie had told me something like that before.

I’d wondered why the temples got involved in the affairs of monsters, but I hadn’t given it much thought.

But could it be that, in this world, monsters were considered an absolute evil defined by religion, much like demons?

I seemed to be in some seriously deep trouble…

My heart began pounding like crazy.

Of course, I also had the common preconception that Demon Kings were evil. That’s why I’d been genuinely terrified when I learned that the being who’d brought me to this world was a Demon King.

But once I learned what he was actually like, he didn’t seem that scary.

In my mind’s eye, a plump owl was scratching its waist with its claws.

And it wasn’t just his appearance. The Demon King had promised me fair compensation and hadn’t done anything to harm me physically.

On top of that, he’d even given me a contract and gotten me a new job! He’d also paid me an enormous advance of twenty million won!

It was a choice I’d been forced to make because I was stranded in a hopeless situation, but looking back, the terms weren’t actually that bad.

The Demon King might be lazy, incompetent, shameless, financially illiterate, out of shape, and fond of sleeping, but…

“Chihuahua, it seems like you’re thinking something rather rude right now.”

…Anyway, the Demon King I’d met personally seemed far removed from the absolute evil the world described him as.

I couldn’t say what the other Demon Kings were like, but at the very least, I felt I could trust the one I’d made a contract with.

“I told you. I made this contract to protect the world. How can protecting the world make me a heretic?”

What I believed in wasn’t rumors or the temples. It was what I’d seen, experienced, and judged for myself.

If I received fair compensation, I’d fulfill the responsibilities that came with it.

I’d see the work I’d been entrusted with through to the end.

Those were the principles I’d upheld throughout my working life.

Therefore…

This company… no, this dungeon, was mine to protect!

Ragner tilted his head and asked in a serious voice,

“What exactly are the terms of your contract?”

“The terms of a contract aren’t disclosed to anyone other than the parties involved. Have you never heard of confidentiality obligations or personal information protection laws?”

At my words, Ragner looked momentarily flustered.

“Are you perhaps in a dangerous situation or in need of help? Did the Demon King threaten you into signing a contract by putting your personal safety at stake?”

I flinched.

In need of help?

The moment he said that, a thought flashed through my mind.

Could the temple… know a way to send me back to my original world?

If I went there, I might never have to face those monsters again… the ones I’d been so frightened of that I’d even taken off my glasses just to look at them. Maybe I could live safely and comfortably among humans like myself.

…Honestly, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted. There had been times when I’d thought it might be better to look for a way out of this situation beyond the dungeon.

But that thought didn’t last long.

One by one, the faces of the monsters waiting for me in the dungeon came to mind.

The goblin who’d cried with joy at its first victory, the skeleton who’d danced happily just because it had received a single wooden sword, and the Small Slime who’d bounced up and down excitedly at being called a “hidden card.”

And then there was Brownie, who’d begged me not to abandon them.

…What would happen to them if I disappeared?

If the Demon King were to manage this dungeon himself, it would obviously go bankrupt.

If this had happened before I’d hired anyone, back when the dungeon was still at its starting stage, I might have immediately taken Ragner up on his offer. I might even have begged him to get me out of this failing dungeon.

“…No. I wasn’t threatened or anything. I signed the contract of my own free will, with a perfectly clear head! After giving it plenty of careful consideration!”

I couldn’t help feeling anxious that I might be passing up a good opportunity, but for a manager to abandon their post halfway through was simply irresponsible.

I, Gong Choi, might have been the team leader of a department that didn’t even have a single other team member, but I’d still managed to earn that title. Diligence and hard work were my pride and joy.

As a cog in the corporate machine, I was absolutely loyal to whichever company paid me well.

“I see…”

He was still looking at me suspiciously, but it seemed he was no longer going to keep pressing the matter unilaterally.